IF POLITICAL leaders were ranked for originality in their pursuit of power, President Vladimir Putin of Russia would be world champion. First he designated his loyal sidekick, Dmitry Medvedev, to be his successor. Then he had Medvedev announce that - surprise! - Putin would become prime minister after May 7, when the new president takes the oath of office.
Finally, last week Putin had himself unanimously acclaimed chairman of the dominant United Russia Party - but without soiling his immaculate czar-like authority by allowing himself to be made a party member.
Putin is playing his own riff on an old conservative dictum that says: In order for things to remain the same, they have to change a little. While taking new titles, Putin has been able to keep himself the unchanging repository of all the power that counts in Russia.
The trick is to have accomplished this feat while respecting the constitutional rule that prohibits a president from serving for three successive terms. His predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, created a constitution that endowed the Russian presidency with enormous powers. During Putin's two terms as president, he expanded those powers by doing away with the election of regional governors and appointing them instead; having the state take charge of national TV networks; placing his Kremlin cronies in control of state-run energy conglomerates; clamping down on nongovernmental organizations; and molding a pliant United Russia Party that now controls 315 of 450 seats in the Duma, or Parliament.
Today, Putin's transparent aim is to retain real power over the affairs of Russia until the day when, under the Russian constitution, he can legally return to the Kremlin as president. Medvedev is to keep the throne warm for his master. Addicts of power in other political systems can only envy Putin his ingeniousness.
